Major Crimes Mysteries

The Family McCoy

Chapter 27

As Flynn and Provenza were staring at each other as to what the cause of the Phillip Stroh FID case finding its way to Major Crimes, the rest of the team stood up as Eric Roberts entered the murder room accompanied by an LAPD police officer. Normally, some type of warning would be given, but the reception area failed to call this time. When Amy saw Eric enter the murder room, she jumped up to move the murder board so he couldn't see that his son was the prime suspect in the case.

"Andy." Tao called out to him, but Andy's attention was on Provenza and only Provenza.

"Andy!" Tao said again with a bit more emphasis. Andy broke his glance and looked at Mike.

Mike simply pointed in the direction of Eric Roberts.

Andy followed Mike's glaze and saw Eric. "How did he get up here without us knowing?" Andy asked the team making sure the officer heard him.

Tao rolled his eyes at the comment.

Buzz was the first to step out and shake Eric Robert's hand. "Mr. Roberts, thank you for coming down. Let me take you to an interview room." The two left the room and walked towards the interview room.

As Andy walked towards the electronics room with Provenza, Tao yelled out to him "Andy, are you going to do the interview with me?" Tao asked him.

"Can't Buzz do it with you, Tao?" Andy asked him.

"Who is going to do the recordings if both Buzz and I are in the interview room, Andy?" Tao asked him.

Sharon, who was still with Lt. Camacho deep in conversation, looked up to see the commotion going on in the murder room. She held her finger up to Lt. Camacho. They both stood up and walked towards the door. "Lieutenant, it was great to see you. I will let you know when I am done with the file. Again, Thank you." Sharon told him.

"What's happening?" Sharon asked as she stepped out.

"We are trying to figure out who is going to do the interview, Commander?" Tao told her.

"Well, that's easy. It should be you and Andy. Buzz needs to do the recording." Sharon replied.

Provenza and Flynn looked at each other. Andy shrugged his shoulders and walked with Tao to the interview room.

The rest of the team headed to the electronics room to monitor the interview.

As they were walking approaching the door, Tao looked at Andy. "What is the matter with you today? You are so off in your game it isn't even funny. In all the years I've worked with you, I have never seen you so distracted."

"It's nothing. Let's just do this." Andy answered back to him.

As they walked in the door, Buzz stood up. "Mr. Roberts, it was nice to meet you. Have a nice day." With that Buzz looked at the two detectives and headed out the door towards the electronics room.

Tao gave Andy one last "Get your head in the game" look before thanking Eric Roberts for making the drive all the way down to the PAB building.

"Mr. Roberts, thank you for coming down." Tao had officially started the interview.

Eric Roberts let the men know that he would try to cooperate as much as possible, but that he wasn't sure why he was down there.

The detectives were ninety percent sure that Eric had nothing to do with the murders and didn't consider him a suspect at that time. That had the potential to change, but for right now, they just wanted to get into the head of Tristan Roberts and was hoping his father could help them. They needed to find the son of Rebecca McCoy and fast. Despite an APB being out on him and numerous agencies trying to find him, Tristan Roberts managed to escape them at every turn.

"Sir, can you tell us when you met Rebecca McCoy or Rebecca Parkey?" Tao asked him.

A total shock of surprise hit Eric's face. "I'm down here for the McCoy family murder?" he asked almost yelling at the detectives. "I haven't seen Rebecca Parkey since she walked out on me and our son."

Andy did his calm down gesture of pushing down his two open hands. "OK, that's fine. We're asking how Rebecca came into your lives. Can you tell us that?" Andy asked him.

Eric still rattled looked at Andy. "Yeah, alright. Sorry. This is just starting to freak me out. I haven't talked to Rebecca in almost two decades and all of a sudden I'm here for her murder." It was clear to the detectives that Eric Roberts hadn't figured out that they were interested more in the son than him. Both detectives were fine with that.

"Just answer our questions, Mr. Roberts. You'll be fine." Tao told the man who was now clearly shaken. They needed to keep Eric focused to get the information they needed.

"Here, let me ask it this way." Tao told Eric. "When did you meet Rebecca?"

It was clear Eric was remembering the day he met Rebecca because his face suddenly relaxed and he smiled.

"I was at a party at a friends house. My buddy, Thomas Getzer." Eric replied. It was Summer of 2001. I think June. Rebecca came to the party with a friend from USC. I guess the friend was a family friend of the Getzers. It was Thomas' birthday party. Rebecca had just moved down from up north. I think the Sacramento area. You could tell she was a shy, sheltered kid. She was only like seventeen or eighteen. She hung with her friend and didn't try to get to know people, but I had to get to know her. She was just that beautiful. I was like twenty-three at the time and much more assertive, so I went over and made idle chit chat with her. We hit it off immediately and I would go see her at USC. Pretty soon we were dating exclusively. I wanted no other woman but her and pictured a life of she and I together." Suddenly, Eric stopped talking and a look of sadness came across his face.

"Then what happened." Andy asked him.

Eric continued. "We had been dating about six months and were just happy. Rebecca had to go home to her parents for winter break. Before she left though, she let me know she was three months pregnant. She had missed a couple of periods and was scared to do a pregnancy test. When she finally did one, we were ecstatic. We discussed getting married. We talked into the nights about how I would help her finish at USC and she would help me to start my garage. I had been working for a guy since I got out of high school as a mechanic. He sent me to school and everything for working on cars. Anyway, Rebecca was going to help me to start my garage and then I would go to school for business. I'd only go to community college though. Not the fancy school like she was going to. We both decided it wasn't necessary. She was getting a business degree anyway and then would do her MBA. We just wanted it that when she and I talked about the shop, I could keep up with her. She was so smart, detectives."

In the electronics room, Sharon reflected on her similar agreement with Jack Raydor and how well it worked for her. Eric continuing on diverted her attention.

"I wanted to go home with her for the holidays, but she told me no. She told me she needed to break everything to her parents and it was best if I wasn't there. I totally understood and supported her." Eric continued.

"When she came back, she was a totally different person. I could tell she still loved me, but she was hardened. You know what I mean?" Eric asked.

Both detectives told him they didn't and asked him to explain.

"I asked her if she told her parents about me and the baby. She told me she had tried, but the second she got home, her mother started giving her a hard time about her grades. She didn't have perfect A's and she told me her parents would cut her off from paying for college if she didn't. She talked to me about needing to keep our relationship and the baby a secret. That her parents wouldn't understand and they would think she was with someone beneath them. She told me at some point, she would talk to them when she got out of them what she needed, which was a full ride payment to USC. As much as I hated it, it was for our future so I agreed to it. I had no problem knowing I'd have a hard time paying for USC and I thought her plan was a good plan." This time when Eric looked at Tao and Andy, he had tears in his eyes.

Tao was the first to respond as both detectives were speechless at what was being said to them.

"Please continue." Tao told him.

Eric took a deep breath in and exhaled just as loudly. "I found a midwife who would care for Rebecca during her pregnancy, and we paid cash to avoid having to use Rebecca's insurance through her dad. I worked two jobs so that Rebecca could focus on earning all A's and keeping her parents off her back. It was so hard for Rebecca, but she had Tristan while still in school. She only missed one day of classes and made sure to get notes from her friend who was helping us."

"What was her friend's name?" Andy asked.

Eric shook his head and let them know he didn't remember.

"Was she showing when she went home?" Andy asked him.

"She was, but she explained it to her mother as being the Freshman fifteen and her mother bought it. She wore larger shirts and such." Eric answered him.

Eric then continued with his story. "Anyway, she loved that baby. Rebecca was made to be a mother. Even at her young age, she doted on Tristan. We figured out how to continue our plan and we were making it work, detectives. I worked during the day and stayed with Tristan at night while Rebecca went to school and I wasn't working the second job. I tended to do that during the weekend so that I could be home with him. If she had to go to school during the day, my mom would watch Tristan. She has as good as a relationship with Tristan as Rebecca did."

"So, what changed?" Andy asked. "Something clearly changed."

Eric looked down at the table in front of him.

"Eleanora Parkey is what changed. I would listen to Rebecca on phone calls with her mother. She was brutal, detectives. In the demands she had on her daughter about who she expected her to marry and date and about who she expected Rebecca to become. Let's just say, it wasn't someone of my level. Eleanora Parkey would only be happy if Rebecca married a doctor, lawyer, or someone high on the corporate chain and became one herself. She would tell her that was the only reason they agreed to let her go to USC. So, she could get a great education to snag one of those types. If I didn't know it was 2003, I would have sworn I was living in the 1950's. I knew no matter how hard I worked, it would never be me either. I kept talking to Rebecca about it, but I could feel her slipping away with each phone call. Then one day, she simply didn't come home."

Andy was entranced with the story by that point temporarily forgetting about the issues with Sharon. "How did Tristan take it when she didn't come home?" he asked.

"Tristan cried and cried. The boy was inconsolable. I tried and tried to find Rebecca but couldn't. When I finally did, she wouldn't answer her phone or respond to my messages except for one. She told me that the Rebecca we had together was gone and please forget about her. Then I saw her marriage announcement to Patrick McCoy, son of esteemed Dr. Robert McCoy, who was studying to be a physician himself, in the LA Times. It was clear Rebecca had done exactly what her parents had told her what was expected. Tristan and I were just collateral damage. I never reached out to her again. I never asked her for child support. Nothing. I figured it was best for Tristan versus having a mother who cared nothing for him. I went to college like I planned and opened my garage with help from my parents and grandparents. I make a good living. Clearly not what Rebecca wanted, but I have a couple of mechanics who work for me and I am paying forward what was done for me. I have a good life."

Eric looked up and then back down at the table.

"Tristan never got over not having a mother and it didn't take him long to know she had abandoned him. It was weird, because he was smart, detectives. It was almost like he overcompensated for it. Tristan managed that perfect GPA. He got scholarships into college based on his grades, but his mother abandoning him was something he just couldn't work through." Eric concluded his story. It was clear at that point that Eric Roberts knew just where this story was going.

"Do you know where your son is?" Tao asked him.

"You asked me that at the shop and I told you. Tristan is in Yosemite. He is looking to relocate up there following college. He didn't do this, detective. He wasn't in the LA area. He was sending me pictures from Yosemite and trying to talk me into moving up there with him when the papers said this happened. I am sure Rebecca pissed off some other people. You are barking up the wrong tree with my son. My son has a good life in front of him. He is in college getting straight A's. He is in a bunch of groups on campus that will set him up nicely. I am hoping he will expand my garage business. Open up new branches. That is how smart he is." Eric told them.

"Sir, we need to find your son. We need to hear this from him." Tao told him.

"Are we done?" Eric asked them now getting angry.

Both detectives indicated they were and walked Eric to the elevator. Again, Eric told the detectives they were barking up the wrong tree as to Tristan's involvement.

After Eric got on the elevator, Tao and Flynn went into the murder room. The team watched the interview again and made notes based on Eric's responses. After they finished, Sharon looked at her watch and told everyone to go home for the night that they needed to get some rest in case SOB or the Marshalls found Tristan.

Sharon walked back into her office and sat at her desk. Andy walked into her office to take her home. "I am staying here tonight, Andy." Sharon told him. "I want to review the Phillip Stroh FID case." She told him in a matter-of-fact manner. "Why are you doing this, Sharon?" Andy asked her. Sharon refused to answer him and opened the box and began to pull files out. "Have a good night." Was the last thing she said to him.

Andy shook his head and walked out of her office without saying good night.